So far Vietnam was for me more a black hole on the world map than a serious travel destination. In the case of Vietnam raised immediately associations with washed-up US-veterans and Agent-Orange-impaired Vietnamese. What should I go there? Until a distant acquaintance of mine set out just there to start her diploma thesis about Delacour’s langurs. Well – in all honesty, I knew langoustes, but langurs?

Due to Google this gap in education was quickly closed and simultaneously my interest aroused. Thus far it escaped my notice that Vietnam has in complete Indochina highest biodiversity of primates, among that also Delacour’s langurs rank (more precisely they belong to the group of lutungs). Among these are 5 species, which count to the 25 world’s most endangered primates. But apart from this, species inventory is a who-is-who: tiger, elephant, pangolin, gaur, Asian black bear, clouded leopard, Siamese crocodile, countless bird and turtle species – to name exemplarily but a few.

But the country looks also back on a turbulent history, which precisely does not start at the Vietnam Wars or at colonial time. This is shown by the fantastic ruins of My Son or the imperial city Hue. With supposed 500 dishes and mobile cookshop everywhere is the country culinary as much multifarious as scenic. Regarding this, potpourri ranges from the world-famous Halong Bay to during war deforested areas and evergreen rainforest to the Mekong delta and palm-fringed sand beaches.

Therefore I set out for a two weeks‘ backpacker tour …